April  18,  1901. 
■JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER , 
329 
Royal  Horticultural  Society  of  Ireland. 
Who  Was  the  Exhibitor  ? 
Referring  to  “  W.  R.  Raillem’s”  query  ou  page  307,  regarding 
the  ownership  of  the  flowers  exhibited  by  me  at  the  last  winter  show 
of  the  R.H.S.  of  Ireland,  the  question  occurs  is,  How  could  a  person 
reading  the  correspondence  fail  to  understand  that  the  flowers  were  the 
property  of  my  employer?  under  whose  authority  I  exhibited  them; 
and  had  it  been  otherwise  this  correspondence  would  not  have  taken 
place.  The  question  in  dispute  is  on  quite  a  different  issue — viz.,  Who 
was  the  exhibitor,  and  had  the  official  representatives  any  authority 
under  the  standing  rules  of  the  society  to  treat  me  in  the  manner  they 
did  ?  The  rights  and  privileges  of  members  of  the  society  are  set 
forth  in  the  printed  rules.  [Our  correspondent  here  quoted  the  full 
text  of  the  rules  that  bear  on  the  matter  under  dispute. — Ed.]  It 
must  have  been  considered  that  I  was  exhibiting  in  a  surreptitious 
manner,  and  without  the  knowledge  and  consent  of  my  employer. 
Had  I  not  been  a  member  entrance  fees  would  require  to  have  been 
paid,  and  the  fact  of  the  exhibits  being  accepted  without  fees  is  in 
itself  an  acknowledgement  that  I  was  the  bona  fide  exhibitor.  When 
the  secretary  applied  to  my  employer  for  his  authority  for  my  action 
in  returning  the  cheque,  he  refused  to  have  anything  whatever  to  do 
with  it.  I  hope  the  above  explanations  will  clearly  justify  my  action 
in  the  matter.— Peter  Brock,  The  Gardens,  Glenmor,  Drogheda. 
Pear  Bergamotte  Espereij. 
This  late  Pear  was  recommended  for  an  award  of  merit  by  the 
Fruit  and  Vegetable  Committee  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  on 
April  9th,  and  the  Council  at  a  subsequent  meeting  did  not  confirm  the 
action  of  its  Committee,  and  the  award  therefore  fell  to  the  ground.  It 
seems  curious,  to  say  the  least,  that  the  Council  should  bring  together  a 
body  of  the  finest  experts  in  the  country  to  adjudicate  upon  exhibits, 
and  then  should  throw  out  its  recommendations.  In  what  position 
would  the  Council  be  if  the  Committee,  smarting  beneath  this  vote  of 
censure,  should  resign  ?  It  is  certain  others  of  similar  calibre  could  not 
be  found  to  fill  the  places  with  the  same  skill  and  knowledge.  The 
Council  will,  of  course,  shield  itself  behind  the  regulation  that  gives  it 
the  power  to  confirm  or  disallow  awards.  Bat  whoever  thought  the 
latter  portion,  at  any  rate,  was  more  than  a  figure  of  speech  ?  Pear 
Bergamotte  E  v-n  is  one  of  the  finest  late  Pears  we  have  ;  it  is 
praised  in  the  “  ,  ait  Manual”  of  the  late  Dr.  Hogg  (than  whom  there 
were  few,  if  any,  better  judges),  and  it  is  in  the  catalogues  of  the 
leading  fruit  nurserymen  with  scarcely  an  exception.  The  fruit,  it  is 
said,  does  not  ripen,  and  here  comes  the  benefit  of  the  expert  knowledge 
of  the  members  of  the  Fruit  Committee,  who  understand  that,  like 
other  late  Pears,  it  will  ripen  if  treated  to  a  little  more  heat  than  is 
allowed  or  required,  for  before  ChriBtmas  varieties.  Pear  Bergamot! e 
Esperen  is  not  a  very  superior  seedling  or  a  rare  object,  but  it  is  one  of 
those  things  “  of  great  excellence  whioh  have  been  hitherto  overlooked 
or  ignored,”  and  to  such  the  several  Committees  are  empowered  to 
make  awards.  I  think  the  Council  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society 
has  established  a  dangerous  precedent  by  its  action  in  this  matter,  and 
it  would  be  as  well  for  the  deoision  to  be  reconsidered,  and  the  award 
of  merit  recommended  by  the  Fruit  Committee  to  Pear  Bergamotte 
Esperen  be  confirmed. — F.  R.  H.  S. 
Scarcity  of  Journeymen  Gardeners. 
I  quite  agree  with  your  correspondents  in  reference  to  the  above 
question.  The  hours,  compared  to  other  trades,  are  too  long.  I  was 
recently  asked  what  time  should  a  man  in  the  garden  begin  to  be  paid 
overtime  for  his  work.  You  do  not  find  a  mechanic  work  but  a  very 
short  time  before  it  is  overtime ;  and  take  Sundays,  why  should  not 
men  be  paid  for  their  Sunday  duty  ?  I  know  this  is  done  in  some  places, 
but  it  is  time  it  became  general.  I  hope  to  live  to  see  the  day  when  all 
gardens  will  close  at  one  o’clock  on  Saturday.  Of  course,  it  is 
necessary  for  someone  to  take  charge  during  the  afternoon  ;  but  I 
have  found  the  principle  work  well  now  for  some  time,  and  I  feel 
Bure  if  it  was  to  become  more  general  the  work  would  be  done  quite  as 
well,  and  the  men  would  appreciate  the  afternoon  off.  I  have  something 
to  do  with  lads,  and  I  find  a  growing  disinclination  to  follow  up  the 
garden  work  or  to  learn  milking  and  batter  making,  and  oare  of  stock ; 
if  they  do,  the  chances  are  they  \  ery  soon  leave  it,  and  go  into  either 
the  Navy  or  Army,  or  at  once  try  something  where  the  pay  is  better.  I 
see  no  possible  chance,  or  good  either,  in  gardeners  thinking  of  forming 
of  unions  to  raise  the  wages  standard.  I  suppose  we  must  wait  until 
employers  insist  upon  having  men  who  have  been  through  the  mill,  and 
pay  them  better.  A  lady  remarked  to  me  a  short  time  ago  how  difficult 
it  was  to  get  what  she  termed  a  really  good  man  ;  but  no  wonder,  at 
the  price  she  was  prepared  to  pay.  One  is  always  glad  to  get  hold  of 
“  our  Journal,”  and  we  certainly  do  ourselves  no  harm,  but,  in  my 
opinion,  good,  in  discussing  these  and  other  kindred  subjects  connected 
with  the  craft. — A.  J.  Brown,  Chertsey. 
Having  been  interested  in  the  discussions  by  “  W.  L.,”  and  “One 
Who  Has  Been  Through  the  Mill,”  I  beg  to  offer  the  latter  my  warmest 
congratulations  for  his  most  able  article  under  the  above  heading  on 
page  307.  I  am  of  the  same  opinion  as  he  regarding  the  ridiculously 
low  wages  now  offered  to  men,  and  this  accounts  for  the  pronounced 
scarcity.  I  was  disgusted,  and  not  a  little  ashamed,  when  a  few  weeks 
ago  a  friend  of  mine  called  my  attention  to  an  advertisement  in  a  first- 
class  gardening  paper.  It  ran  thus: — “Wanted,  a  foreman  inside; 
must  be  good  workman  ;  well  up  in  Orchids,  house  and  table  decorations, 
&c. ;  not  under  twenty-five;  wages  18s.  and  bothy.”  Are  not  such 
terms  as  these  an  insult  to  any  intelligent  young  gardener  ?  Suoh 
advertisements  are  not  at  all  unusual.  What  I  ask  is  this  :  Cannot  the 
young  fellows  do  something  to  improve  their  lot  ?  I  am  pleased  to  see 
this  subject  brought  forward  in  these  columns,  and  trust  someone  will 
come  to  the  front  with  a  good  suggestion,  whioh  in  due  time,  when  pub 
into  practice,  will  help  us  out  of  this  abominable  state  of  affairs  whioh  at 
present  makes  us  the  laughing  stock  of  the  working  classes. — G.  H.  C. 
Late  Culinary  Apples, 
With  regard  to  the  two  doughty  champions,  Messrs.  Pearson  and 
“  South wellite,”  anent  my  really  inadvertent  unreoognition  of  the 
varieties  of  Apples  so  strongly  advocated  by  them,  possibly  it 
will  “prove  a  blessing  in  disguise”  in  the  way  of  drawing  further 
attention  to,  and  I  hope  extended  cultivation  of,  the  excellent  kinds  so 
vigorously  championed  by  them.  Especially  does  this  apply  to 
Bramley’s  Seedling,  and  it  may  soothe  the  injured  feelings  of  my 
facetious  castigat or  No.  2,  that  at  the  present  moment,  whilst  wielding 
the  quill,  I  have  a  fine  speoimen  reposing  on  the  writing  desk  of  the 
“finest  Apple  on  earth”  just  brought  forth  from  my  cool  cellar,  and 
its  shapely  form  and  highly  coloured  roseate  cheek  appear  to  upbraid 
the  sinner  for  his  “  slip  of  memory.”  By  its  side  also  is  an  equally  fine 
and  well  kept  specimen  of  the  Striped  Norfolk  Beefing — which  by  the 
way  I  wonder  was  not  also  mentioned  by  either  of  my  respected  critics 
— the  latter  harking  from  Herefordshire,  and  the  other — “  cry  it  not  in 
Gath  ” — from  the  vicinity  of  Southwell  itself,  and  was  presented  to 
me  about  two  months  ago  by  a  native  young  gardener  of  the  district  in 
question,  and  until  lately  a  resident  here. 
Last  season  also  he  presented  me  with  a  few  still  finer  specimens  of 
the  same  variety  from  the  same  source,  and  it  may  gratify  both  of  my 
critics  to  learn  that  at  one  of  the  Birmingham  Gardeners’  Mutual 
Improvement  Association  meetings  I  took  occasion  to  exhibit  and  draw 
attention  to  the  excellency  of  the  “finest  Apple  on  earth,”  also 
including  the  merits  of  about  a  dozan  other  worthy  varieties,  and  not 
excluding  the  would-be  maligned  old  Northern  Greening;  the  new 
Northern  Greening  was  inoluded  in  the  list. 
Now  these  admissions  on  my  part  would  seem  to  render  my 
advocacy  of  the  old  kinds,  and  omission  of  equally  good  and  newer 
ones,  somewhat  inexplicable.  The  fact  is,  at  the  time  of  penning  those 
few  notes  to  accompany  the  photographic  illustration  of  a  prolific 
young  tree  of  Lane’s  Prince  Albert,  the  old  Northern  Greening  was 
especially  reminiscent  owing  to  its  highly  serviceable  attributes,  as 
depicted  in  the  notes  in  question,  and,  parenthetically,  while  not 
presuming  to  question  the  experience  and  authority  of  oastigator 
number  1,  I  opine  he  must  be  labouring  under  a  misapprehension  as 
to  my  estimate  of  both  the  Northern  Greening  and  Dumelow’s  Seedling 
Apples.  Of  the  former  I  am  thoroughly  certain  that  it  was  the  true 
variety,  and  that  it  proved  to  be  a  vigorous  grower,  nearly  equalling 
suoh  as  Blenheim  Pippin  and  Hanwell  Souring,  grown  in  the  deep  and 
holding  clayey  soil  of  the  two  orchard  gardens  I  was  practically  acquainted 
with  from  twenty  to  fifty  years  ago,  and  the  Northern  Greening 
(familiarly  called  “Johns”  or  “Jacks”)  was  even  esteemed  as  a  first- 
rate  culinary  Apple,  amongst  several  others,  and  all  of  which  often 
rendered  me  potent  service  on  the  exhibition  table  at  some  of  the 
leading  shows  in  the  country,  while  occasionally  specially  grown  fruits 
of  the  Northern  Greening  assisted  in  securing  honours;  but,  like  other 
extra  prolifio  kinds  of  Apples  and  other  fruits,  severe  thinnings  are 
needed  if  large  size  be  a  consideration. 
Mr.  Pearson  quotes  Dr.  Hogg’s  “  Fruit  Manual  ”  regarding  the 
nomenclature  of  the  Northern  Greening,  and  here  I  may  be  exoused 
recording  the  fact  of  my  having  been  requested  by  the  late  worthy 
Doctor  to  assist  him,  with  Mr.  Killiok  of  Kent,  in  judging  the  large 
array  of  Apples  and  Pears  at  the  Fruit  Conference  held  at  Hereford  in 
1879,  I  having  been  a  non-oompetitive  exhibitor.  Cider  and  perry  also 
came  under  our  adjudication.  Altogether  it  was  an  instructive  tnl 
highly  interesting  task  for  me,  apart  from  the  appreciated  honour  ttius 
conferred,  and  rendered  further  gratifying  by  the  esteamed  preseat 
from  the  Doctor  a  short  time  afterwards  of  a  copy  of  the  fourth  edition 
